Tag: monthly recap

Week 5/ January Recap

Upcoming races- Surf City 13.1

Focus– I forgot to choose one this week. Oops.

How is it February? Seriously, how did that happen? Wasn’t is just Christmas? Or I don’t know summer? Anyways moving on. One plus about El Nino is that things have been warmer than usual but that changed this week. Brrrr.

Monday- Rest Mondays really work as rest days for me. Why do I keep trying to change that? I will say that I felt guilty for not getting in some miles on the bike though.

Tuesday- 4 miles Some very, very slow miles. I had an episode of Z Nation to get me through it. Though I do wonder if anyone can see my phone, between Z Nation and Blacklist, I feel kind of weird watching my phone at the gym.

Wednesday- 6 miles Stationary I woke feeling more sore from 4 treadmill miles than I had from my long run on Saturday. Grrr. Daylight savings, are you here yet? I ended up testing out the new Little Caesar’s on the way home so it almost ended up another rest day. But instead it was just a very late start and fewer miles.

Thursday- 10 miles I had to work this weekend so I was able to take a half day and I actually made it out of work by 1. With a storm predicted for the weekend I had planned on trying to get my long run in early. After last week’s successful though slow 12 milers, I was looking forward to it. I almost quit in the first 2 miles. Everything felt off, I was still sore, I felt uncomfortable in shorts, my throat had an alligator instead of a frog in it. Every time I started to run I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. What the hell?! Was I embarrassed to be seen in shorts or something?

I got to the top of the hill and just stopped. I stretched, had a conversation with myself and scrolled Instagram. Anything to get my mind off of my panic issue. I didn’t feel like anything was actually really wrong and I didn’t want to miss the chance to complete my long run so I reassessed. Pace meant nothing so I turned on the run/ walk interval on my watch and set off again. Slowly. At mile 5 I assessed again, felt ok so I continued on. Between walking and running my pace was holding around 11:30. Since I was moving slower than planned I ended up having to run through the traffic when the high school let out. Cuz I wasn’t feeling fluffy enough?!

When the run was finally done, I joked on Instagram that it was my slowest 10 miler ever. Except it turns out it wasn’t a joke- it really was my slowest 10 miles ever. It took me 2 hours to run 10 miles plus another 20 minutes of stopping for head games and a chafing concern. But you know what? I ran 10 miles. Trying to think on the shiny side here. ☺

Friday- Rest Woo hoo!!!

Saturday- 11 miles Stationary It was cold and the storm was looming when I got home after work. I had planned on getting in a run after I finished my errands but just couldn’t bring myself to go back out. Cross training and the comfy chair won.

Sunday- 4 miles The storm was predicted to clear by the afternoon so I was going to run then. While the rain did clear, it was freakin’ cold! I still feel oddly achy and sore, so I kept it slow and easy for 4 miles.

And that wraps up my last full week before Surf City. Since I am treating it like a very large, friendly long run I normally wouldn’t taper. But the treadmill and I need to break up and this soreness needs to go away so this may be a heavy cross training week. We’ll see. And that brings us to the end of January-

Double what December was and that was with 6 days off due to the flu. I am calling this a good base building month. I will probably continue to build into February. I’m currently trying to mash 2 training plans together. Excel is giving me a headache trying to merge the 2 books. Ugh. I get the feeling I may just have to start over.

How was your January?

Anyone have any Excel tips?

Vacation Week 1 Recap & Night November

Winter has arrived. The last few nights have been in the 20’s-yippie. 😓 I will adjust but haven’t just yet. My toes feel like Popsicles. Between a long, cold hike and the frozen Turkey Trot last week they still feel frozen. But besides that, I put more miles on my legs last week than I had in any training week in a long time. Yay for vacation!

Monday– 4.5 miles- progression. I chatted about that in this post but this was a good run. It wasn’t the speediest but it felt comfortable. I hadn’t felt that in a while while running. 😃

Tuesday– Rest. With 8 miles on Sunday and then Monday’s run I decided to implement a 2 days on/ 1 day off schedule for vacation. I figured my inherent laziness would kick in at some point but I also didn’t want to push too hard too fast.

Wednesday– 9+ mile hike/ trail run. More on that will be in Wednesday’s post. I’ll just say this- I had to climb up—out of a bat cave. With my iPhone flash to light the way.

Thursday– Turkey Trot! Also mentioned in my last post- so cold!! And all the miles caught up with me.

Friday– Rest. I really wanted to be outside hiking for REI’s #optoutside but my right leg was so sore and tight from #allthemiles in a short time, (for me) I could barely walk. I spent the day taking it easy and alternately cursing/ crying with my foam roller. 😒 Zero shopping was done on this #blackfriday.

Saturday– More rest. My right leg was still super tight and sore. It would actually buckle every now and then when my quad locked up. Fun. I spent the day wandering around SLO and made nice with my foam roller again.

Sunday-3.8 miles. Night 3 of sub 30* temps, there was no way I was running in the morning. I’d like to say I’ll get used to it but yeah, probably not. Winter is the time of year that running in the mid afternoon rocks. 😄 I was pressed for time as I was going to an afternoon movie but I wanted to see how my legs felt. The right one felt great, nothing at all like the past few days. The left on the other hand was back to it’s old tricks. I had to stop a few miles in to stretch out a super tight calf. Grrr. It loosened up for the last mile or so but I need to figure out why that calf tends to get super tight. Other then the tight calf issue, it was another good run. All of this week’s runs had zero walk breaks. I can’t remember the last time that happened. 😃

Weekly mileage- 23.42

Who am I? 😄 Throw in last Sunday’s 8 and my 8 day total hit 31.42. How many rules of running did I break there? 😃 To put that in perspective let’s talk about how November as a whole went.

Miles- 59.9
Races– Big Sur Half Marathon 2:23:26
Turkey Trot 10k- 1:04:49

So yeah, half of this month’s mileage happened last week. Oops. Seriously why can’t I run at 3 all the time? I know my treadmill motivation is seriously lacking. I run so awkwardly slow on it, it also makes my legs overly sore. New goal for December- conquer the treadmill. Either that or invest in a headlamp and brave the cold, dark mornings. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

How was your November? Are you ready for December?

Anyone brave the shopping this weekend? Score any good deals?

Weekly Recap- Over October

Happy November!!! Seriously I am looking so forward to November. Which is rare for me. 😃 But before we get into the October recap, let’s talk about last week.

Monday- Rest – Still dealing with the remnants of the weekend’s migraine.

Tuesday- 2.25 Miles- I sacrificed mileage to enjoy a few last evening runs outside. This is pretty typical for the last 2 weeks before the time change though. Totally worth it to me. Unfortunately my commute makes for pretty short runs.

Wednesday- Rest– I had a training seminar a few towns south of work, so I knew getting in a run after work was unlikely. I headed home to discover some pretty sweet mail. A while back Dana over at Slow and Steady(ish) was hosting a giveaway and I was the lucky winner. Yay! 😃 Seriously I never win anything. I can’t wait to try them all.

Thursday- 2.25 miles– Goodnight lake, I’ll miss you. Also, I made a mistake. I ran this short run in my last pair of Wave Rider 17’s. They only have 100 miles on them and I wanted to give them another shot. Not the best idea. I had some aches and twinges.

Friday- Rest- Also, I lost the cookie battle again.

Saturday- Rest- The number hungry person in me wanted to get in a run just to add to my October mileage but I knew I was aiming for a 10 miler on Sunday so I refrained. Plus it was still in the high 80’s. Grrr. And my knee was now hurting.

Sunday- 7 miles– I was out the door running by 9AM- which is huge for me- but it still got warm. I don’t think I had ever really processed the correlation between the temp and the time change before. 9 meant the 10AM temps, grrr. Between the warm morning, and the persistent ache in my knee down into my left shin, I called it at 7 miles. The run was erratic at best, I could not get my pace under control- not even close. There were times I was running a sub 9:30 and then walking a 15:00 minute pace. If I didn’t have a race in 6 days, I may have toughed it out but I decided it wasn’t worth it. I have learned my lesson though- the Wave Rider’s and I are never getting back together. Insert Taylor Swift gif.

All in all a much better week than the previous 2. Which leads me to-

October Recap!

I am so over October. Seriously. September and October were hands down my busiest months of the year, I’m done. Unfortunately that “done-ness” showed in my mileage. Something had to give and it was running. So let’s look at the numbers-

Miles run- 42.9

Races- City to the Sea 13.1– 2:12:40

So yeah, October was a sloppy mess. That mileage number kind pisses me off but makes sense considering I had a 5 mile week and a 6 mile week in the middle. I did get sick and if I am sick enough to leave work, I am too sick to run but that only accounts for a few days, not the month. October was supposed to be the month of me getting out of my own way, instead I dug a ditch. I need to take a note from Elvis with a little less conversation and a lot more action. In line with that, I have decided a little positive peer pressure is in order. So I will joining the #chasethebird challenge with Oiselle and sweating pink with the Holiday Sweat Challenge. This should be interesting. 😉

So what am I looking forward to? November potentially has 3 races but I am rethinking one of those. Another awesome thing about November? Vacation!!!!! I don’t usually like vacations, I dread them. But I am so ready for this one. I am actually counting the days until November 21. Then I have the next 2 weeks off! 😄 Now I will probably be going stir crazy by day 4 but 2 weeks is what work requires so 2 weeks it will be! 19 days, 19 days.

Oh and 6 days to to Big Sur!!!!!! Now if the knee pain could go away. And the foot…

How was your October?

What are you looking forward to in November?

Night Night November

Where did November go?! Today should not be the first day of December- I’m not ready! But, time marches on so here is my November Recap.

Miles- 55.1
Race- GREW From the Vines 5KHikes- 2 East Cuesta and Cerro Alto So November was kind of a toss-up. I started the month feeling a little under the weather, so only logged 3.4 miles the first week. I also figured that meant I finally wouldn’t be sick on vacation. The following week I started my training plan but the first 2 weeks were fairly easy. Last week was supposed to step up the mileage and it coincided with my first week of vacation. I tried really hard to stick to the plan but the stupid head cold of Thanksgiving came back with a vengeance Saturday and Sunday. Saturday wasn’t wasted because I did enjoy some shopping with my mother. I was a little confused- where were all the people who were supposed to be out and about? I may have treated myself to a new running outfit. Both pieces are by Reebok and the pants are super warm. The top is long-sleeved and the exact style of an original clearance rack cheapie I picked up almost 2 years ago. I have worn that light pink one so many times, my mother can no longer stand the sight of it. 🙂 Sunday dawned gray and rainy, and I had been up coughing most of the night. Between my asthma and GERD, every time I get a little cold I develop a hacking cough. Geez, I have issues, nice. I knew there was no way a long run was happening but I thought I could handle a good puppy walk. Except the puppy didn’t want to walk, she wanted to run. I finally just decided to jog with her. Every so often she would look my way like – “see, I can run with you”. It was a pretty good run. I also bundled up before heading out. I tested out the new pants and wore multiple layers on top plus an ear warmer over my ears. My bottom half was the warmest part of me, though. It only rained on us for a short while. Those 4 puppy miles brought my November total to 55.1 miles. Not what I had hoped for but better than October (by a mile)! Another bonus about November? I hit my yearly goal of 750 miles!!! Miles to date for 2014- 776.8!!

Woo hoo! Time to move on to December. I have one last week of forced vacation 😦 and then it’s back to work for me. There is Christmas to prepare for, both of my parents have birthdays this week plus the plethora of Christmas/ end of the year parties are starting. I also have my colonoscopy to look forward to in a couple of weeks. All that being said, it’s time to step up the mileage.. and see if I can really follow through! Oh and it’s time to watch a bunch of silly made for tv Christmas movies. 🙂

How was your November? Are you ready for December?

Any Reindeer runs in your future or are you done racing for 2014?

August Recap-So Close

I came pretty close but fell just short. August clocked in at my second highest mileage month of the year. As cool as that it was, I was also a little irritated. I had been on track to finally break 100 miles in a month, but life happens. Taking 4 days off due to a headache that wouldn’t quit and then turning a 10 miler into 4– well that hurt the numbers.

August Totals-

Miles- 87.7
Races- 0

I also managed to make it back to the track twice. None of that was speed work, but the track is still my happy place. I ran the lake path, the river path, from home, around the track and on the treadmill. I realized that my long runs may have too many hills to be called a long, easy run but they definitely meet the slow mark. However I did run my fastest mile in August-

Beyond that, I finally had my doctor’s appointment, attended the company picnic, got a new boss and took a lot of naps. Seriously, why do I nap so much? My doctor’s appointment gave some lovely antibiotics, which are kicking my ass, and a referral to USC. Anywho, hopefully something works, I miss speed work.

I also had a very scary run in with some dogs. Last Friday, the customer that has 2 Bouvier’s brought them in. I forced myself to give them a treat. Granted, I kept the counter between us, but they still good have bitten my hands. Mission safely accomplished. However I have yet to run/walk down my driveway since then.

Coming into to September, I have 3 races scheduled, half marathon, 10k and 5k. With that being said, I am not going to try to hit 100 in September. In fact I am thinking that I will run very little the week after Ventura. I start volleyball again on Monday and a boot camp class next Saturday. I also am volunteering at the Avocado Margarita Festival over that weekend, probably on both days. So it seems to me like it will be the perfect time for fewer miles. But I also have Monday and Tuesday off, so my feet may be itching to run, depends on Ventura. How well I will be able to squat and bump the ball at volleyball will also depend on Ventura, ha! 🙂

August was rough and I feel a little run down, between work and my stupid stomach and a few weeks of rough runs. With that in mind I have not registered for my October half yet. I have two options. City to the Sea (which may sell out) that I have done the last 2 years and the Harvest Marathon. Harvest may win just because it is the end of October and literally down the street. However running goes in ebbs and flows and it will be awesome again, I just have to bide my time. And maybe cross my fingers. 🙂

What are you doing in September? Any races?

What about boot camp- should I be scared?

What’s something awesome that you did in August?